Music: Symphonic Saxophonist

Not by his expression (surprised) but by the sounds (symphonic) he
emitted from his instrument, his listeners in Washington, D.C. this
week could tell that Sigurd Rascher was no saxophonist of the baser
sort. With the National Symphony and Conductor Rudolph Ganz behind him,
Saxophonist Rascher's proops and pralalas were strictly serious. And so
was Sigurd Rascher, for he is the man who rescued the saxophone from
the barrelhouse.

Although many composers gave it a try, the saxophone's voice always
seemed too brash for the other reeds, too reedy for the brasses. Sigurd
Rascher, a clarinetist in his youth, switched to the...